Amla Named South Africa Test Captain

Johannesburg: Cricket South Africa has named Hashim Amla as South Africa's 33rd Test captain. The 31-year-old, who was in contention for the post along with AB de Villiers was given the nod in Johannesburg on Tuesday. De Villiers will be Amla's deputy.

"It is an honour and a privilege to be given this responsibility," said Amla. "I would like to pay tribute to the leadership Graeme Smith has provided throughout my international career. This is an exciting challenge but one that I take on with positivity with our Test team being in exceptionally good space at the moment with the support of a strong core of senior players.

"I have concentrated on taking my batting to the highest possible level and now I feel I am in a position to make a contribution to South African cricket in a leadership role."

Amla's predecessor Graeme Smith, who retired from international cricket in February this year after his side's 2-1 loss to Australia, was quick to pour in his good wishes. "Just landed in Jhb to news of @amlahash congrats my bud and excited to watch you shape proteas test future", Smith tweeted.

Scores	Upcoming	Results
South Africa vs Pakistan - 3rd ODI 4th Test - Australia v India - December 26-30, 23:30 GMT 1st Test - Zimbabwe v Afghanistan - December 26-30, 07:30 GMT 3rd ODI - Zimbabwe v Afghanistan at Harare Afghanistan won by 8 wickets (with 139 balls remaining) 3rd T20I - West Indies v Bangladesh at St Vincent Bangladesh won by 80 runs

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